Antitrust Reminder

AMAP brings together competitors from the aluminium industry at a shared research location. To ensure that this collaboration remains unobjectionable under antitrust law, the following applies to all colloquia, project meetings and the AMAP Forum:

Do’s

Before a meeting

• A written invitation is sent out for every meeting (an email is sufficient).
• Every meeting has an agenda – except for regularly recurring meetings (such as AMAP colloquia and team meetings) with consistently the same main topics.

During a meeting

• Who takes the minutes is determined right at the start of the meeting.
• The agenda must be followed strictly.
• Complete minutes must be kept for the entire meeting.
• “Spontaneous remarks” on topics that are not on the agenda are to be avoided.
• “Spontaneous remarks” with antitrust implications (for example: “We finally need to talk about prices.”) require an immediate response.
• This applies not only to the chair, but to all participants.
• Point out to the participants that the topic that has been raised spontaneously must not be discussed, and make sure that your objection is recorded in the minutes.
• If in doubt, first check whether the topic is uncritical under antitrust law before discussing it. If the topic raised is uncritical, it can be placed on the agenda of the next meeting.
• If the discussion nevertheless continues, leave the meeting immediately. Insist that the exact time of your departure be noted in the minutes.
• Inform AMAP management and, where appropriate, your company’s legal department of such an incident.

After a meeting

• Check that the minutes of the meeting are complete and correct.
• Make sure that the language used in the minutes is clear and easy to understand in order to avoid misunderstandings.

Don’ts

The following topics must never be discussed in formal or informal meetings attended by companies that compete with one another:

Product prices

• Prices, price ranges, future pricing strategies
• Effects of cost increases on pricing (e.g. agreements on passing on rising raw material, energy or labour costs)
• Individual terms of sale and payment, discounts, surcharges, bonuses, etc.

Customers / suppliers

• Allocation of markets or sources of supply
• Individual customer relationships
• Assignment of customers or suppliers to particular companies (e.g. so-called “preferred suppliers”)
• Quantity restrictions or allocation of specific supply quotas
• Agreeing “non-aggression pacts”
• Boycotts or calls for boycotts

Key figures

• Individual cost items of the company, cost accounting formulas (product-specific information on delivery costs, production, inventories, etc.)
• Product-specific information on order backlog, sales figures, delivery times

Future market behaviour

• Plans to expand or reduce capacity, insofar as they allow conclusions to be drawn about products
• Planned projects in the areas of non-pre-competitive research and development, investment, production, marketing or sales

If you have any questions about the antitrust framework for the collaboration, please contact the management at info@amap.de.